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T O P I C R E V I E W

Penney Kols

Regency-Superior presents its Space and Aviation Memorabilia Auction, January 13th at the Embassy Suites South Anaheim Hotel, Anaheim, California beginning at 11am (PT). 350 lots are now available online for viewing and bidding.

This sale includes autographs of Orville Wright, Amelia Earhart, historic aviation documents related to Neil Armstrong, autographs and photos related to 1920s (and later) aviators, aeronauts, aces and astronauts as well. The Rocket section includes flown and unflown items related to the rocket mail programs of several nations including covers and entire collections.

Several nice items are found in the High Altitude section including a handmade wooden model of a Rocketdyne AR2-3 rocket engine that was used in three NF-104A class supersonic aerospace trainers that were made to serve as a low cost alternative to the X-15 or X-20.

The key feature of the High Altitude section is an actual XLR-99 rocket engine for the X-15! – a remarkable and historical rocket engine that may never come on the market again. This engine measures 5 feet in overall length with an end exhaust diameter of 30", and weighs approximately 500 pounds. Probably the only one in private hands. It would make for an incredible display at a museum.

The Mercury and Gemini sections feature signatures of many of the early astronauts as well as flown heat shields and other related materials. The Apollo section is very strong, and includes a nice Saturn V equipment section. The Shuttle program section is rich in complete crew signed covers, official NASA photos and lithographs. The Chinese and Soviet/Russian sections include many desirable single items including several Gagarin signed pieces, plus numerous large collection lots with many seldom seen flown and autographed covers, and other items.

Key Highlights:

Apollo 7 Schirra & Stafford signed final flight plan

Flown Apollo 11 flags

Several Neil Armstrong signed pieces

Apollo 13 flown to the Moon pendant

Apollo 14 flown to the Moon Antares emblem

Our aviation and space models section has some large lots of ‘Topping’ and other contractor-type models. Some individual Saturn 5 models should also pique the interest of Apollo and launch vehicle enthusiasts.

The auction will be held live on the internet beginning at 11am (Pacific Time) on Friday, January 11th. Viewing and bidding are available 24/7 at RegencySuperior.com. Or, attend the auction in person on Friday, January 11th in Anaheim. For specific questions regarding this auction, please contact Alan Lipkin.

Good luck with your bidding!Alan LipkinSenior Vice President

Aztecdoug

One wonders if Lot 32, the XLR99, has been flown, or test fired? Interesting lot.

Scott, per your request the image on line in lot #83 has been pulled. As I mentioned in the email I sent you, it would be easier if you just call or email me with something like that instead of putting it on a public forum. We are always happy to comply.

Mercurypgm

I am upset about my experience today with the auction. First I could not get the program to load. I called and spoke to a gentleman in St. Louis who was rude and after a rew minutes just gave up in trying to help me. Next I called Alan by cell phone and since he was busy on the phones (and not a computer expert), he said I would have to call St. Louis.

By this time I finally figured out what the first problem of loading the screen was. That was I clicked that I only wanted to receive information securely. When I clicked the other option (which I do not like to do), I finally got a page. I then had another problem and spoke with a girl named (I think) Lisa. It seemed that I was running one lot behind (picture vs getting an opening bid). I was receiving no notice that an item was opening, but only saw what people were bidding, that is if bidding was occuring. She was of no help.

I then asked for Penny Kols to call me (at this time I got a call from Donnis and I suspect Alan asked him to call me) and thus had two folks on the line (my cell and on my home phone). Donnis doesn't know the computer system well enough as of yet (that is understandable) and couldn't help me. Penny Kols still has never called me back as she was on the phone when I tried calling back several times and left messages each time.

Finally by the time they reached Apollo 14 items (I missed bidding on a number of items I wanted to purchase) I finally figured out what was wrong. The bottom left hand bidding screen was not fully displayed and thus one had to scroll up and down to see the bidding done by others and where one could see the current bid and bid button. A full screen was not displayed. This meant scrolling up and down on every lot (as well as side to side). Very annoying to say the least. In the process I accidently hit my mouse and bought an item I did not want.

At that point I simply logged off and said goodbye to the website. Having sold lots of items on cS, I was ready to do some serious bidding, but that did not occur.

The last thing I did was after the auction, I went to see what I bought as I had posted 10 bids in advance. It showed that I had bought the item I did not want and one other item which I did want, as it had an advance bid. BUT the total for the two items I bought shows a total $530, yet the current opening bids shows a total of (if you do the math) $750. I printed this out.

So, here I sit scratching my head. Having spent a GREAT deal in the past and normally consigned many items (this auction I did not), I must admit that the service this time was very poor. Until they fix numerous glitches in their computer system and make it easier to navigate, I will likely not consign items and will only bid by phone. I have mentioned computer glitches in the past to David Kols, and made numerous suggestions as to their catalog. David sent me an e-mail discussing some catalog changes to me two weeks ago which I appreciated, but an endless series of glitches seem to occur nearly every auction.

I would normally discuss my experiences in private with those at Regency-Superior but as I was ready, willing and able to spend $25,000+ and ended up with bupkas, I'm posting this to cS hoping that it will raise awareness to some of the issues I have and hope they are corrected.

My dealings with Alan have been pleasant and I consider him a friend (and likewise), but they really need to get the bugs out, especially for us computer dummies. Not angry, just upset that I was unable to buy some items (i.e., the Ed White spacewalk pic that went for a very low price, amongst other items). — Richard

spaceflori

Like Richard I had similar problems in the past with their software and also this time. Last auction I have bought an item live and it never showed up in the backend though it was confirmed as "you won lot xxx" on the screen.

Also the backend system is completely illogical as it calculates totals completely wrong, it works with "current opening bids" instead of "prices actually realized" and so on. Right now I even have a completely wrong total even with the wrong prices posted there.

I wish David and Alan would finally invest in a working system such as Heritage has and many others. Something for Donnis to take care of!

Mercurypgm

Alan called me right after the auction ended and said he was sorry for the problems I encountered and that they were not addressed during the auction. Apparently their next auction will have new software as they were aware of some of the glitches.

Also, some flexibility will be permitted on some lower priced items. They will be listed in the catalog as descriptions, but no picture will be shown in the catalog (due to the photography cost and that is fully understandable. I am not sure if pictures will be shown on line as I have not gone back to David's e-mail to double check that, but I think that is the case as a scan will be far cheaper than a photo). David sent me an e-mail discussing these issues 2-3 weeks ago.

Anyway, Alan (whom I have never had a problem with in any way, shape or form) will keep me updated as to changes. I just hope that they get things straightened out as my dealings over time have been positive (though payments seem to be getting later and later) and that the same things are communicated up and down the organization. Heck, they are not Chase bank in size!

In a call to David (the day before he sent me that e-mail) I mentioned that I had consigned no items to this sale and he was totally unaware of that and surprised. Communication is the key both inside the company and to clients (especially those who have been long time consignors and buyers). The philosophy of "what have you done for us lately" is unacceptable, in my opinion.

Oh, Donnis is by no means computer savvy but hopefully can help in making the new program more user friendly. Having a "real" tech rep available to those who are having problems during the auction would be VERY helpful.

gliderpilotuk

...and the sooner someone can make an IOS-friendly live auction package the better. I know iPads have issues with Java but pc's are so "yesterday" and I want be able to bid from wherever I am, via an always-on connection.

spaceflori

Surprisingly it worked on my iPad this time except the screen is totally "disarranged" and I could only see half of the bid button. But I agree with Paul that those mobile devices are the future and those who can adapt to it will have the clients of the future.

GACspaceguy

I used my iPad as well. I agree I only saw half the bid button and my issue was that sometimes the bid button worked sometimes not.

I wonder how high the Saturn V and the second LM model would have gone if I could have bid again on both of those lots.

Alan Lipkin

Richard (and others), as you are aware, auction day is a crazy time and people are often stressed to the limit. We have over 1,000 bidders in each sale and answering the phones for the hundreds of people who call is a major operation. Admittedly, our auction program has needed work for a while. Many of the problems that occurred have been fixed in a new program that we were offered by our programmers for this sale. Unfortunately we were offered this program without testing as the guinea pigs. We did not think it fair to our consignors, bidders, (or ourselves) to be the first to use this program. It could have caused major problems. It will be tested by others in live auctions before we use it ourselves in May. With that new system, fully tested, we hope (and expect) that here will by few if any glitches like occurred this time. Despite the problems, a very large percetage of our lots were sold to internet bidders who were able to figure out the peculiarities of the screen. We apologize to those who had problems and hope for your patience.

We do take into account the needs of both our consignors and our bidders as best we can. We do need to maintain profitability as well, so a few things that might help can not always be done realistically.

Thanks to everyone who commented and to those who sent us emails and called with their constructive criticisms and compliments.

Happy New Year!Alan LipkinSenior Vice PresidentRegency-Superior, Ltd.

Mercurypgm

Thanks for the update Alan.It is appreciated.

Glad I was not the only one who had trouble with seeing only half the bid box. The funny thing is a friend in Houston had no problem and saw the entire bid box... very odd. Finding the little hammer to click on is tough enough.

By choosing to see only secure downloads only gave me a blank screen. Then finally by the time I figured out I only had half the bid box (the top half), which had to be moved up and down and side to side (about when Apollo 14's were up for auction), I accidentally clicked on the bid button as I was scrolling up and down and side to side. When it showed I bought an item, well, I logged off in disgust. Oh well, I suggest folks phone bid and forget about the internet until they get it right.

By the way, the guy in St. Louis whose name I do not know is rude and has never been helpful whenever I have called on any issue. He is a poor representative of your company to say the least. In my opinion, then again, I have been known to "raise my voice". Now there is an understatement. LOL. Oh, Cathy is a JEWEL and deserves a pay raise. She is one in a million... as is Alan!!!!

z0sense

If you were only seeing half the bid box and you are currently using Internet Explorer 9 then your problem would more than likely be solved by selecting to view the site in "Compatibility View", which is the icon in the address bar that looks like a "torn page".

Internet Explorer 9 has a few issues with rendering objects on quite a few pages. Using compatibility view on pages that appear awkward (i.e. half of icons/buttons showing, incorrect font sizing, etc.) will typically solve most of your issues....

Just a suggestion.

Mercurypgm

Using AOL and have IE 8. So what solves that problem?

Received my item today, but still waiting for an e-mail confirming the purchase! I did get an invoice with the package. I was hoping that they might have forgotten that, but that they got right.

stsmithva

Received my items today. Very happy to have acquired them, including a pilot's license renewal application dated just ten days after the flight of Freedom 7 signed "Alan Bartlett Shepard Jr." Packing job was very good, considering that the box contained both documents and hardware.